Wu Guoguang

Wu Guoguang is a Professor of Political Science and History and Chair in China and Pacific Relations at University of Victoria, Canada. Wu grew up in Shandong, where he was a xiaxiang qingnian (a sent-down youth) and then a factory worker until admitted into Peking University when university admission examinations were restored after the Cultural Revolution. Before attending the Nieman Program at Harvard in 1989, he was an editorialist of the People’s Daily in Beijing. He also joined the preparation for the CCP’s 13th National Congress as a member of the central policy group on political reform and of the drafting group of Zhao Ziyang’s political report. He then earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Princeton University, took research positions at the East Asian Institute of Columbia University and at the Fairbank Center of Harvard, and taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong before moving to Canada in 2004. His research interests focus on China, currently including political institutions, political change, political economy, globalization, elite politics, politics of mass media, China and the world, and human security.

Wu is the author or editor of more than twenty books. His research articles have appeared in Asian Survey, China Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, Pacific Review, Social Research, and Third World Quarterly, among other publications.

Books

What legacies have previous reformers like Zhao Ziyang left to today’s China? Does China have feasible political alternatives to today’s repressive ‘market Leninism’ and corrupt ‘state capitalism’? Does Zhao’s legacy indicate an alternative to the past and for the future?For those who are familiar with the development of Chinese politics since the reform years, Zhao is now widely regarded as a major architect of the nation’s profound transition. His contributions to China’s post-Mao development are rich and multi faceted, including those on rural and urban economic reforms extending to accountable governance, liberal policies concerning domestic affairs and China’s foreign relations.Featuring contributions from leading experts in the field such as Richard Baum and Xiaonong Cheng, this book explores the historical development of China’s political reform issues, and how his political legacies are relevant to China’s political development since the 1980s to the future. Using recently translated recollection articles by veteran reformers who worked with Zhao in the 1980s, like Du Runsheng, An Zhiwen, Li Rui, Bao Tong, Zhao Ziyang and China's Political Future is a valuable contribution for students and researchers interested in the Chinese politics, Asian politics and political development in Asia.—Routledge